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Rick Ward III
Rick Ward III (Republican Party) was a member of the Louisiana State Senate, representing District 17. He assumed office in 2012. He left office on June 6, 2022.
Ward (Republican Party) won re-election to the Louisiana State Senate to represent District 17 outright in the primary on October 12, 2019, after the primary and general election were canceled.
Ward resigned from the Louisiana State Senate to accept a job in the private sector.[1]
Biography
Party switch
In July 2013, Ward switched from the Democratic Party, saying, "I’ve been in the Legislature now for two years and really the road the Democratic Party is going is not an area I feel comfortable with."[2]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2021-2022
Ward was assigned to the following committees:
- Health & Welfare Committee
- Judiciary C Committee
- Revenue & Fiscal Affairs Committee
- Transportation, Highways & Public Works Committee, Chair
- Joint Capital Outlay Committee
2019-2020
Ward was assigned to the following committees:
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Ward served on the following committees:
| Louisiana committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Natural Resources, Vice Chair |
| • Insurance |
| • Judiciary A |
2012-2013
In the 2012-2013 legislative session, Ward served on the following committees:
- Insurance Committee, Louisiana State Senate
- Judiciary A Committee, Louisiana State Senate
- Natural Resources Committee, Louisiana State Senate, Vice Chairman
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2019
See also: Louisiana State Senate elections, 2019
Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
Nonpartisan primary election
The primary election was canceled. Rick Ward III (R) won the election without appearing on the ballot.
2015
- See also: Louisiana State Senate elections, 2015
Elections for the Louisiana State Senate took place in 2015. A primary election was held on October 24, 2015, with a general election held in districts where necessary on November 21, 2015. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was September 10, 2015, at 4:30 p.m. CDT.[3]
Louisiana elections use the Louisiana majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50% of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article. Incumbent Rick Ward III (R) was unopposed in the October 24 blanket primary.[4][5]
2014
Ward was a Republican candidate for the United States House of Representatives in the 2014 elections in the 1st Congressional District of Louisiana.[6] Ward ended his campaign on August 21, 2013, saying the decision was based on a wish to remain local during his children's "formative years."[7]
"While considering the amount of time I will spend campaigning for Congress over the next year and serving in Congress afterwards, it has become very apparent to me that the hours and days away from my family will be extraordinary," Ward said in a statement on August 21, 2013. "I strongly believe I need to spend as much time with (my children) as possible during their formative years. For this reason, I will not be a candidate for Congress," he added.[7]
2011
- See also: Louisiana State Senate elections, 2011
Ward ran in the 2011 election for Louisiana Senate District 17. He defeated Larry Thomas (D) in the primary election on October 22, 2011. Because Louisiana uses a blanket primary system, a candidate can be declared the overall winner of the seat by garnering 50 percent +1 of the vote in the primary. However, if no candidate reaches this threshold, then a general election would have taken place on November 19, 2011 between the top-two vote getters.[8]
| Louisiana State Senate District 17 Blanket Primary, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Rick Ward, III |
70% | 25,645 | |
| Democratic | Larry Thomas | 30% | 11,000 | |
| Total Votes | 36,645 | |||
Campaign themes
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Rick Ward III did not complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Ballotpedia currently provides campaign finance data for all federal- and state-level candidates from 2020 and later. We are continuously working to expand our data to include prior elections. That information will be published here as we acquire it. If you would like to help us provide this data, please consider donating to Ballotpedia.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Louisiana scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2022
In 2022, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 14 to June 6.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to social issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to abortion.
- Legislators are scored on their stances on laws and policies related to sexual trauma and sexual violence.
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from April 12 to June 10.
|
2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 9 to June 1. The session was suspended from March 31 through May 4. A special session convened from June 1 to June 30 and from September 28 to October 23.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from April 8 through June 6.
|
2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 12 through May 18.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from April 10 through June 8. The legislature held its first special session from February 13 to February 22. The legislature held its second special session from June 8 to June 16.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 14 through June 6. A special session was held from February 14 to March 9 to address the state's budget gap. A second special session was held from June 6 to June 23.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from April 13 through June 11.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 10 through June 3.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from April 8 to June 6.
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2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the Louisiana State Legislature was in session from March 12 through June 4.
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See also
2019 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ BR Proud, "WBR State Senator to resign, take private sector job," accessed June 8, 2022
- ↑ theadvocate.com, "State senator Rick Ward III switches parties," July 17, 2013
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "2015 Elections," accessed January 2, 2015
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Candidate Inquiry," accessed October 13, 2015
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Election Results," accessed November 1, 2015
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedrun - ↑ 7.0 7.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs nameddrop - ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Election Results," October 22, 2011
- ↑ Louisiana Family Forum, "2014 Senate Scorecard," accessed July 11, 2017
- ↑ Louisiana Family Forum, "2013 Senate Scorecard," accessed July 11, 2017
- ↑ Louisiana Family Forum, "2012 Senate Scorecard," accessed July 11, 2017
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Louisiana State Senate District 17 2012-2022 |
Succeeded by Caleb Kleinpeter (R) |
